Lady in Blue
by Alantie Mistaniu
Summary: Its perhaps one of my clearest memories of my childhood, though I don't really know why. Perhaps because she made an impression on me. More likely, because she obviously made much more of one on my father.


A/N: This is my first Twilight fic ever, so I'm not sure how well this will be recieved. . . Anyway, this is just a random idea I had for a fanfic and decided to try. I'm not really sure if I like it or not. Please review! Thank you!

Lady in Blue

The first time I saw her, I was eight, the perfect picture of innocence. Its perhaps one of my clearest memories of my childhood, though I don't really know why. Perhaps because she made an impression on me. More likely, because she obviously made much more of one on my father. Maybe it was the aura of mystery she carried with her as she moved gracefully, almost dancing with each step. Whatever the reason, I still recall that day I first saw her to near perfection.

It was the typical overcast day for Washington, though not raining for once. Despite my mother's distracted protests, I was adamant about going outside, partially to escape the cries of my new baby brother and also to practice. I had been eager to play with my new purple sparkly jump-rope, a gift from my dad, determined to beat my friends in our schoolyard contests. Unable to work on my double-dutch jumping, I instead practiced on breaking our current record of jumps without messing up: 135. Though it was cool outside, I soon discarded my blue jean jacket, concentrating fiercely on jumping around and around the yard as I counted in my head.

_1. . .3. . .25. . . 42. . .miss._

_15. . .36. . .49. . .77. . . miss._

_29. . . 52. . .89. . 100. . .116. . .133. . 146!!_

Exhausted, flushed, and sweaty, I stopped on the end of the driveway, a grin stretching from ear to ear.

"Yes!!" I crowed, whipping the jump rope above my head like a lasso as I twirled delightedly around in circles. "Wait until Shawn and Alison hear about this!!"

When I finally stopped spinning, dizziness disoriented me and I sat down with a thump, staring up at the dark clouds as I waited for my sight to stop swirling around. My eyes closed happily, listening to the sound of the wind, the distant roar of the waves, and the chirps and twitters of birds.

Abruptly, cut off in mid tweet, the birds fell silent. My eyes flew open, puzzled as I propped my small frame up on my elbows. Everything had gone eerily quiet, the way in did when Daddy took me hunting with him and his friends. The quiet it became when the animals knew a predator was nearby. Uneasily, I scanned my surroundings, wondering why I felt this way. A sudden flash of movement out of the corner of my eye caused me to gasp, and in a second I scrambled to my feet, eyes wide. There was a blur of blue. Then I saw her.

She stepped delicately out of the shadows, her movements fluid, smooth, and graceful, eyes a warm topaz. She was slim, slender, looking no more than eighteen years old. Her hair was a beautiful shade of mahogany, hanging loosely around a face paler than any I had ever seen. Even clad in perfectly ordinary black cotton pants and a navy blue long sleeved shirt, she was like a beautiful angel that had descended from the heavens.

"I'm sorry sweetheart," she said softly in a voice more lovely and musical than I could ever imagine. She held perfectly still as I gawked at her in disbelief, a kind smile on her lips. "I didn't mean to scare you. I was watching you, remembering when I jump roped at your age." The young woman knelt in front of me, soundlessly as a cat. "How high did you get?"

I beamed at her, remembering my success. "146 in a row!" I declared proudly. "I broke Shawn's record! Boy, will he be mad!!"

She returned my grin, sharing in my triumph. "I was never that good. Clumsy as could be, that was how I was. I tripped over the rope more often than not!"

My mouth dropped open in shock that such a graceful woman could ever make such a klutzy movement, and she smiled. Gently, ever so carefully, she extended her hand to touch my cheek. Her skin was icy against my flushed cheek, though it could have been from the weather."Its true, sweetheart." She blinked, sighing suddenly. "Tell me, what's your name?"

"Skye," I answered, feeling suddenly shy.

Her smile widened. "Skye, will you get your father for me, please?" she asked, her hand gently smoothing back my black hair. "Bring him here for me?"

Eager to please, I raced off to find my father. He was, as usual, in the place he always was: the garage. Long before my birth, he had started his own mechanic business, one far cheaper than the one in Forks. He did well for his business, and he was happy doing what he loved best- tinkering with machines. As long as I did as he told me and kept out of harm's way, father was always happy to have me there watching him. I would hand him tools and watch in rapt fascination as he worked.

His legs were sticking out from underneath a yellow car when I entered the garage, his voice singing along to an old classic on the radio. I bent over, peering at him through the shadow under the car.

"Daddy?"

"Just a minute, honey," came the muffled reply. "Will you hand me that wrench over there?"

Obediently I placed the indicated wrench into the huge hand that had suddenly appeared out from under the car. It disappeared once more, and I stood impatiently, listening to the clinks of metal from beneath the vehicle. In what seemed like eternity, he scooted out at last into sight, sitting up to smile at me as he held out an arm.

"There's my girl. With all the time you spend out here in the garage, I expect you to turn out to be a mechanic someday!" I giggled as he wrapped me in a tight one-armed embrace, his deep voice continuing, "Won't that be a combo! A beauty who loves cars! You be a heartbreaker with the men, that's for certain!"

"Daddy!"

He grinned, tousling my dark hair. "What did you need, munchkin? Does your mother want me?"

Remembering my mission, I shook my head solemnly. "No. Its the pretty lady in blue. She asked me to get you for her."

Instantly, he stilled, his dark eyes unreadable as he stared at me. "What lady, honey?"

"The really, _really_ beautiful one. She has long dark hair, and she's really nice, Daddy. Is she your friend?"

He didn't seem to hear me, letting me go and standing up, wiping the grease from his face before throwing on a dark blue t-shirt. I followed behind him as he strode outside, hard pressed to keep up with his longer legs. My father paused, his eyes scanning the area.

"Where is she, Skye?"

"This way." I took his hand, tugging him off to the side, off towards the edge of the woods.

No sooner had we approached the looming trees did she materialize before us, her topaz eyes glowing as they focused on my father. For a moment, neither moved. The next thing I knew, my father had slipped his hand out from my tightly clenched fingers, catching the young woman up in a tight embrace. She held him back in returned for a long moment before stepping gracefully back, a soft smile on her lovely features.

"Its been awhile, hasn't it?"

He swallowed hard. "Yeah, it has."

I craned my neck to look at him, puzzled. Why did his voice sound funny? His face looked weird too, like he was trying not to cry.

"Daddy?" Even to my own ears, my voice sounded high and uncertain.

Both started, glancing down at me as if they had forgotten my presence. The young woman knelt before me again, taking one of my small hands in her icy cold one. "Thank you very much, Skye."

Shy once more, I could only murmur a thank you before my father was kneeling beside me too.

"Honey, can you give us some time to talk?" I nodded mutely and he suddenly took my other hand, forcing me to meet his gaze. "Promise me you won't say anything about this to anyone? Can you do that for me, baby?"

Once more I could only nod soundlessly before they both released me, standing up and moving towards the trees. I watched them go before walking quietly back to the house, uncertain to what had just happened. The afternoon wore on uneventfully, with my mother finally calling me inside to watch my brother while she cooked dinner. I spent most of the time alternating between staring out the window and keeping unsafe objects from out of reach of the baby's grasping little fingers. It was just before dinner that my father reappeared, walking back into the yard- alone. As requested, I didn't say anything about the lady, and soon I wondered if she had been a silly imagining of mine.

But then I saw her again.

It was two years later, the same time of year. I was in the yard again, laying on my stomach reading a book when I saw a flash of color through the dimness of the trees. Blue. There was the long brown hair, a gleam of gold. I stood up, but she was gone before I could even assure myself of what I had seen. I didn't even have the chance to go talk to my father, because by the time I got my brother back to my mother's capable hands, he was no where to be found.

After that, I kept an eye out for her. Some years I would see her, some I wouldn't. It was always the same time of year, the beginning of summertime, always in late afternoon. And she always wore blue in varying shades, but I had not been able to speak to her in all that time. As I grew older and entered my teens, what chilled me more was that she did not seem to age. Granted, I never saw her for more than an instant, and never very close, but she seemed the same as I recalled her. Yet I stayed true to my word to my father. I never spoke of her to anyone. Even when I grew up and married, I still wondered about her. I would catch myself watching out the window towards the woods, waiting for a glimpse of blue.

I didn't see her again- until my father died.

It was sudden, quick, and unexpected. A heart attack in his sleep at the age of 65. The doctor told us that he hadn't suffered, but small comfort that was. The days passed in a pain filled haze as I helped my mother with preparations for the funeral and going through my father's possessions. Long ago he had set aside a box of things for me, my brother, and my mother that he wanted each of us to have in particular when he passed away. I pawed through mine with a numb detachment, vaguely taking note of pictures, a hair ribbon, baby teeth, my first wrench, and the keys to his prized Rabbit, when my fingers brushed against the edge of an envelope. I managed to focus, looking down at it, and the sticky note attached to it.

_Skye,_

_If you are reading this, I will no longer be in this world. I hope you will remember how much I love you, and that I always will be watching over you. I can only ask you for one last favor: please, give this letter to the 'Lady in Blue' for me? Promise me, baby?_

_Love always_

_Daddy_

Tears stung my eyes, but I wiped them hurriedly away before tucking the envelop deep into my sweater pocket where it stayed until the day of the funeral.

I clutched it tightly in my hands as they lowered the casket into the ground, my husband's arm around my waist as I wept silently, barely hearing the words spoken by the man presiding over the burial. _'Beloved father, friend and husband. Jacob will long be missed.' _They could have been about anyone. It didn't seem possible that they were talking about my warm, cheerful, laughing, sunny father.

As twilight fell, I found myself leaving the funeral dinner, returning to the grave. I couldn't bear the thought of my father up there all alone in the cold dark ground. I crested the hill and stopped cold, frozen in place as I stared at the figure standing before my father's headstone. I took a hesitant step forward, thawing as I realized the only person it could be, the only one who would wear a sky colored dress to a funeral.

"Its you."

She turned, her mahogany hair swinging in an arch around her pale face, a slight smile on her lips though her eyes were filled with pain. "Its good to see you again, Skye."

"You too. . . Bella," I said softly, speaking the name that had been penned across the white envelope, knowing that it could only belong to someone as beautiful as her.

She didn't seem surprised by my usage of her name, taking my offered hand. "I'm so sorry, sweetheart," she said softly. "I wish. . ."

The words I had heard all day seemed different coming from her lips, more genuine and heartfelt, somehow. "Thank you."

Bella turned back towards the gravestone, her pale hands retreating into the pockets of the navy blue cardigan she wore. Up close, as I studied her, I could see that she was indeed exactly as I remembered her. She had not aged a day in all those years.

"Jacob was one of my dearest friends," she said softly. "Ever since we were in high school."

My throat went dry, and she must have noticed, because she cast a wry look over her shoulder.

"I guess he never really told you about me then, did he?" I shook my head mutely, and Bella smiled slightly. "Think about the local legends," she prodded gently. "I'm sure Jake told you all of them. . ."

A hand of ice closed over my heart, my mind whirling as I recalled the tales my father had told me when I was still young enough to believe them. He wove stories about men who turned into wolves, and. . .

"The cold ones." It explained everything.

She inclined her head slightly. "Yes."

"Then that's why you never. . ."

"Technically, our family is not allowed on the La Push land. I'm an exception, at least to a certain extent. I'm allowed on the edge of the border, but that's it." Bella touched my elbow. "Walk with me? I really should be leaving now, as much as I would like to stay."

I fell into step with her as she walked away from the cemetery and towards the line of trees in the distance. I was surprised that I didn't really feel afraid of her, even knowing what she was.

"Did Dad know? About you. . ."

Bella smiled, seeming amused. "Of course he did. Not that he approved, of course. . ." Seeing my puzzled look, she clarified. "I was changed the year I was nineteen and he was sixteen. He didn't want me to be a vampire. But I was in love- still am in love. But I wouldn't let something like what I was keep me away from my best friend. I sent letters. I called, when I could. And you know I came to visit."

"May I ask. . . why do you always were blue?" I asked hesitantly as we began to walk through the trees.

She laughed, a beautiful, carefree sound. "I don't always. I wore it whenever I came to visit Jake. It was his favorite color to see me in."

We had come across a clearing, and I stopped, seeing a jeep parked there, and leaning against the hood was a young man every bit as beautiful as she was.

"Edward," she said easily, crossing the distance to meet him with a kiss before pulling back and indicating me. "This is Jake's daughter, Skye Black."

He nodded in greeting and I murmured something polite in return. Bella glanced at the rapidly darkening heavens, and sighed. "Well, we best be going. Now that Jake. . . well, I don't think I'll be welcome here as much anymore."

"You're still welcome," I said, not knowing why, only knowing that it was the way my father would have wanted it.

She smiled sadly. "Not by everyone, dear." Edward held the door open for her and she walked towards it.

Suddenly I remembered the envelope, yanking it out of my sweater pocket as I ran to her. "Wait!" She stopped, looking at me curiously as I held it out to her. "I found this in a box of my father's things. I think its for you."

Bella took it from me, staring down at it for a long moment with eyes that were strangely bright. "Yes, it is. Thank you, Skye." Once more she touched my cheek softly with her icy fingertips, those topaz eyes burning into my own. She didn't say anything more, simply gazed at me until I felt she could see my very soul. I blinked, and then she was gone, sliding into the passenger side with Edward already in the driver's seat. I watched them drive away in the distance, and I could swear for a moment, I saw my father by my side, could almost hear his voice on the wind.

_'Until we meet again.'_


End file.
